Tomb Treasures of the Late Middle Kingdom: The Archaeology of Female Burials

CHAPTER 4 The Development of Egyptian Burial Customs

ChApTer 4 The Development of egyptian Burial Customs In most periods of ancient Egyptian history burials include items from two types of objects—funerary and daily life—and the burial equipment of Egyptian tombs always represents interaction between them. In burials of the ruling class funerary objects are more common, while further down the social ladder in the graves of the broader population these funerary objects become rarer. In the cemeteries of the royal residence objects of a funerary industry are always common, while in many periods they are not so common in provincial cemeteries, even in burials of people of the highest social status. The products of a funerary industry are often inscribed (e.g., coffins) and provide us with at least a vague idea of the concept of the afterlife and the next world as they were seen by certain people at a given time. It is much more difficult to gain a fair idea of whether the broader population had the same ideas or whether they had a different model for the next world. The different burial goods placed in the burials of the broader population in the late Middle Kingdom and also in other periods might indicate that they had a different model. In very general terms it seems unlikely that the broader population had the same precise views of the underworld as those articulated in the funerary literature of the ruling classes and visible in the court type burials. In his radical redefinition of folklore, Antonio Gramsci noted that the “subaltern classes” were not able to produce an elaborate concept of the world. They were too burdened to have the space and time to develop their own unified view of the world.1 This might to a certain extent explain the high variability of objects in burials of the broader population. On the other hand, it might equally be doubted 136 ChApTer 4 whether most members of the ruling class had a concrete and refined image of the underworld. They did, however, have access to funerary literature and to specialists with access to that literature. Therefore, they had people preparing for them everything needed for a proper transition into the next world, at least from the point of view of the specialists. This included the objects of a funerary industry. The specialist is the ancient Egyptian equivalent of Gramsci’s “traditional intellectual,”2 the member of society assigned the task of composing a worldview for those dominant in that society. As a result, burials of the wider population often look very different from those of the ruling classes. They often do not contain many objects of a funerary industry, even in cases where the objects may have been affordable . Instead, in all periods up to the Ramesside Period objects that were close to the body during life dominate the burial assemblages of people of the broader population, and also burials in the provinces. These consist of jewelry and cosmetic objects for women and sometimes weapons and some jewelry for men.3 Burials of the poorest often lack any grave goods.4 Burials of the broader population also often look very different over the centuries, not because of fundamental changes in burial customs, but because the material culture changed and different objects were worn on the body in different periods. In contrast, substantial developments are visible in terms of objects of a funerary industry. The objects most likely reflect changes in rituals performed at the funeral or around the mummy and perhaps also changes in beliefs in the underworld in general. The following brief survey of Egyptian burial customs provides an overview, with special attention to undisturbed burials of women. It also tries to place the burials of the late Middle Kingdom in context and to explain some typical features of these burials. The predynasTic and earLy dynasTic periods (3500–2700 Bce) The graves in the Predynastic Period were often simple and equipped with objects already used in daily life. People were placed in holes dug into the ground; only a handful of more elaborate tombs are known. Proper tomb architecture on a wider scale is not known until the Early Dynastic Pe- DeveLopMenT oF BuriAL CuSToMS 137 riod, when at centers such as Memphis substantial funerary palaces were built.5 In both periods, even in the burials of the poorest, grave goods were still provided and mostly consisted of pottery vessels. Women had...